Progress Report – First Quarter 2018

First quarter 2018 proved to be a good time to write. Since this is the first of my writing progress reports, here are the details.

I wrote all the time or at least I worked on something to do with writing. The process generally runs from idea to percolating that idea or combining it with other ideas, outlining, drafting, preliminary editing, and reading aloud to my husband (a HUGE help for spotting flow errors).

Then it’s beta readers sending feedback which I work out, off to the pro editor, write the query letter, query, wait for acceptance or rejection.

Accepted work? Then it’s time to work on promoting it. Rejected work? Then it’s time to regroup. This may mean more editing on my part, or changing the query or just shelving a work for a while.

Finished Works for First Quarter 2018

First of all, I worked on a number of new short stories. A lot of these had been drafted on paper and so I spent some time fixing and polishing them. This included an older story, You Call is Very Important to Us.

Here’s what I created and improved.

January

I wrote well and regularly this month. It was a great kickoff to first quarter 2018.

January 1 – 7

During the first week of first quarter 2018, I wrote a piece every day. there are two pieces over 2,000 words long: The Resurrection of Ditte and A True Believer in Skepticism. Another four are under 2,000 words: Short, Sharp; Dragon for Sale, Cheap; Too Tired (tiny!); and The Landing. The seventh was also under 2,000 words and is a little scene from The Real Hub of the Universe trilogy: Snowy Allston.

Of these seven short stories, Dragon and Landing are both comedies. Allston is kind of melancholy. Tired was really just so I could get something written that day. The other three are somewhat ironic and all of them give off a Twilight Zone sort of vibe.

My favorite for this week is a tie between Ditte and Skepticism. They both having something to say about the human condition.

January 8 – 14

Then I wrote more short stories during the second week of first quarter 2018. All of the pieces are under 2,000 words. I wrote: The Forest; I Used to be Happy; The Star; I Hate Promises; A Kitten; The Outside World; and The Meeting.

Of these seven short stories, The Star; I Hate Promises; and The Meeting are comedies. The Forest and The Outside World are more like fables, with the former being about helping a stranger and the latter about being curious about freedom. A Kitten is heartwarming and could be read to a child.

My two favorites for this week are I Used to be Happy and A Kitten. Both should make a reader think, and I love writing like that.

January 15 – 21

And I wrote even more during the third week of first quarter 2018. These are all under 2,000 words: The Other, Canada Saves the World, Worthy, Nothing Good Ever Happens at 3 AM, Who Do We Blame for This?, None of this is real, and Inventory.

Of these short stories, The Other is another fable. Canada Saves the World and Inventory are comedies. None of this is real is more of a nascent romance. Nothing Good Ever Happens at 3 AM and Who Do We Blame for This? are both tragic first contact stories. Worthy is kind of an odd story about what is a sort of dystopian society that has lost its way.

This week, I had a lot of favorites. In fact, the only one that wasn’t a favorite was Canada Saves the World as it was just kind of silly. Even Inventory was better.

January 22 – 31

So, I wrote a lot more during the final ten days of the first month of first quarter 2018. Everything was under 2,000 words long. And these stories were: Soul Rentals, And the Horse You Rode in On, The Guitarist, The Metuchen Mystery, So Long, Will’s Dog, I Used to be Cruel, Just Married (sequel to The Meeting), Justice, and This is My Child.

Of these short stories, Soul Rentals is kind of spiritual. And the Horse You Rode in On is historical. The Guitarist is YA. The Metuchen Mystery is fantasy. So Long is tragedy. Will’s Dog and Just Married are more fluff pieces. Justice is dystopian. I Used to be Cruel and This is My Child are both drama.

For these last ten days, my favorites were pretty much everything but The Metuchen Mystery, which felt too light and silly. I’m not a fan of dragons, even if they are in New Jersey. The Guitarist was a particular fan favorite. I wrote almost 29,000 words during this month.

February

By design, I did no writing. However, I edited Mettle and The Enigman Cave. I didn’t do any promotions although I was busy with some work for Wattpad (I’m an Ambassador there). Working with beta readers was iffy/spotty at best. Since I do my best to nurture those relationships, but I also need to get a lasso around version control, I created a Facebook group and started using Google docs.

So far, that’s had a mixed reception. Plus I didn’t work on promotions. It’s not so much that I was busy; it was more that I’m just kind of burned out on that.

Beta readers, so far, have enjoyed The Guitarist, The Obolonk Murders, None of This is Real, and The Forest. Who Do We Blame For This? got a mixed reception, as did So Long and This is My Child. I’ve been trying not to be too pushy but unfortunately Facebook algorithms require a lot of activity. I’m still trying to find a good groove there while, at the same time, respecting everyone’s time and interest levels. And my own, too!

Plus I worked some more on the plot for Real Hope of the Universe.

March

There was even more writing!

March 1 – 7

I started off the month with a bang, writing Kelvin 505.928, Oh Little Town, Almost Shipwrecked, Courage, Hot Mess, Enchantment Street and Clay. These were all under 2,000 words long.

So of these short stories, Kelvin 505.928 is science fiction. Oh Little Town is horror. Almost Shipwrecked is humor and is a lot like The Meeting. Hot Mess is a prequel to Almost Shipwrecked. Courage is a romance with a twist. Enchantment Street is kind of dreamy and it’s one of the more positive stories I’ve written this quarter. Clay is a kind of odd deep future type of time travel story. Yeah, it’s weird.

My favorites this week included the one-two punch of Hot Mess and Almost Shipwrecked, plus Courage is a sweet story.

March 8 – 14

And then I kept it up by writing Blue Card, Protection, Shadows, The Path, Guinea Pigs, Loud, and It’s Five O’clock Somewhere. These were all under 2,000 words long.

Hence of these short stories, Blue Card is dystopian and might even be about the Nazis or something like that. Protection is a bit of a true crime story. Shadows and It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere are both time travel stories and they are representative of how I’ve been thinking about that premise lately. The Path is another dystopian story but there’s a bit of hope in there. Guinea Pigs is a weird science fiction story that’s kind of underdeveloped.

My favorites this week included Blue Card as it’s evocative and creepy at the same time. I also liked Shadows and It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere.

March 15 – 21

During the following week, I wrote Space Con, Daybreak, AM/FM Ghosts, The Interview, Modern Sonnet, The Witness and How Much?. These were all under 2,000 words long.

Therefore of these stories, Space Con is something of a science fiction true crime story. Daybreak is about a medical miracle. AM/FM Ghosts plays with some urban fantasy I’ve been considering.

The Interview and How Much? are both truly creepy science fiction. Modern Sonnet is a touch of poetry. The Witness is a little crime drama.

This week’s favorites included the matter-of-fact vibe of Space Con and the creepiness of How Much? But the big winner is also the fan favorite: The Interview. Beta readers told me they wanted to see more, which is always a great sign.

March 22 – 31

During the final 10-day period, I wrote Appealing, The Cause, The Invaders, Halfway, Merciful, Wicked Ways, and A Trip (there are three more but they’re being posted after this blog goes live). These were all under 2,000 words long.

Hence of all of these, Appealing is an after-prison story which I admit I cribbed from my own fan fiction. The Cause and Halfway are both historical. The Invaders is a little bit of unexpected humor.

Wicked Ways and Merciful feel like they relate to each other, as an oppressive society turns to good. A Trip is similar to a work I did for an Alzheimer’s charity Anthology, called Props.

This week’s favorites included Appealing (one beta reader liked the main character’s strength) and Halfway. I also like Merciful; it’s a hopeful story.

During this month (apart from three stories which won’t make it to this blog post), I’ve written just under 19,000 words. The big drop-off in production makes sense as work ate me alive.

Milestones for First Quarter 2018

Also, I have written over two and a half million words (fan fiction and wholly original fiction combined). So right now my stats on Wattpad for wholly original works are as follows:

• How to NaNoWriMo – 5,662 reads, 74 comments
† My Favorite Things (like kibble) – 969 reads, 133 comments
• Revved Up – 57,999 reads, 523 comments
† Social Media Guide for Wattpad – 11,870 reads, 587 comments. This is under my actual name, Janet Gershen-Siegel.
• The Canadian Caper – 436 reads, 37 comments
† The Dish
• There is a Road – 188 reads, 28 comments
† WattNaNo’s Top Picks 2018 – 236 reads, 8 comments

WIP Corner for First Quarter 2018

The current WIPs are as follows.

The Obolonk Murders Trilogy is a futuristic crime story where our society is divided into three parts – humans, semi-sentient and sentient robots, and aliens. I may end up writing a sequel trilogy. I’m not sure, so stay tuned.

The Enigman Cave takes place about a half a millennium from now and imagines a first contact where the aliens are at the level of Australopithecus.

The Real Hub of the Universe Trilogy takes place about 140 years ago and covers an Earth overrun by alien factions during the Victorian Era.

Mettle takes place only a few years from now and is the story of how society crumbles when metals begin to disappear.

Prep Work During First Quarter 2018

So currently, I have been working on some writing prompts to keep me sharp and keep the words flowing through first quarter 2018.

My intention, for this year’s NaNoWriMo, is that I will probably write the third novel in the Real Hub trilogy. But I need a plot! So a lot of this year will be spent on that.

And – heh – I might actually have a different plot for this year’s NaNo, taking place in, of all things, the Obolonks universe. But I really should finish Real Hub. Really. Shut up, plot bunnies!

Pre-First Quarter 2018 Works

Because there is just no other place to put them, here are some older works of mine.

Very Old Stuff, Long Before First Quarter 2018

So, my first real-live writing was more in the form of what we would now call graphic novels. I was a child, so these don’t exactly have much of a narrative structure. They were basically stories of puppies going on adventures. I don’t have any of them anymore.

The dates for those most likely range from about 1967 to 1972, when we moved from Pennsylvania to New York.

In 1981, I wrote a story which I have renamed Freedom of Choice and updated in 2025.

Then, during law school (probably starting in 1985), through when I was practicing law, and up to about when I got married in 1992, I wrote a multi-book series about a girl detective named Jane Barnett. I can’t recall if there was a name to the books or the series beyond her name.

A lot of these are printed and live under my desk. Someday, I will scan these!

2011 and 2012

In 2011, I wrote a story called The End, although it may be much older. But that’s the vintage of the oldest version I have of it.

Then in 2012 (again, this one could potentially be a lot older), I wrote There is a Road.

2013 and 2014

In 2013, I wrote The Dish, but that’s another one which could be older. On Wattpad, I wrote Revved Up.

And for my first-ever NaNoWriMo, I wrote Untrustworthy!

Then in 2014, I wrote I’d Rather Have Plastic and drafted but did not finish Truth in Advertising. For my second NaNo, I wrote the second book in the Obolonk trilogy, The Polymer Beat.

2015

So, when 2015 rolled around, I wrote All My Aliens as a group writing exercise for an anthology. I also contributed Complications and Props to two separate anthologies.

For my third NaNo, I wrote The Enigman Cave.

2016

In 2016, I wrote Cynthia, The Last Patient, and Wilder Bloom. All of these were for anthologies.

Also, I started but did not finish (these are on my radar) Getting Over It, No Trip to Jupiter, The Jungle, and The Lost Luggage of Time.

And for my fourth NaNo, I wrote The Real Hub of the Universe.

2017 and Going to Right Before First Quarter 2018

And in 2017, I wrote Darkness into Light, The Boy in the Band, and Your Call is Very Important to Us.

In addition, I wrote The Escape Violinist.

The novel for my fifth NaNo was Mettle.

First Quarter 2018 Productivity Killers

Work, and what else during first quarter 2018? Plus I have all sorts of offline junk going on, including house renovations and the inevitable lousy New England weather which means shoveling snow and also running the car when it’s really cold out so it won’t stall.

Another productivity killer was my own mood. Not only does winter do it to me (I get Seasonal Affective Disorder), it’s also that I’ve got some burnout. Sometimes the writing days did not come so easily.

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