Writing Update July 2024
I blogged last time I was writing two thousand words a day in order to complete draft one and was two weeks in. I kept up this routine and finished the first draft of the next novel in the Kill series. I also mentioned it was called The Kill Flag and that title would last the distance. I changed it to The Kill Trick and then started using The Kill Switch. I’m still undecided.
I find it odd taking a break and not writing to the extent I have been over the last month. I’m still jotting down notes and thinking a lot, but not having to sit down and write with a target in mind is an adjustment. I’m going to take two weeks off, and then see if I can maintain that routine again as I have a great deal of unfinished writing to complete. To be accurate, I took Sundays off, not for any particular reason, it’s just that I started on a Monday, and I felt I should take a break once a week. It worked for me and I believe it helped me keep up the routine. I’m not one of these writers who feels they have to write every day. I like taking breaks, holidays, using my lunchtime to wander around taking in the world and people’s conversation, jotting down notes using pen and paper as they come to me, rather than sitting in front of a laptop.
The ending of this new novel can go a couple of ways and I’m uncertain just where it will go. I have slotted the action into the two weeks holiday my main character is taking, yet the conclusion of the book – depending on what occurs – would naturally spill over into the early months of the next book in the series as it happens in real time. I suspect I won’t know how it concludes until I do the rewrite.
The Kill Chain is waiting for me to approve the final edits for the second edition and the edit on The Kill Ward is also waiting for me after my holiday. There is a lot to be getting on with.
In other news I finished reading the Dune series by Frank Herbert making me the only person I know who has read all six books. It’s been quite a journey and one I found a difficult read to start with but really got into by the later books. I’m not used to reading such epic world building fantasies so it was an experience. This means I can now watch the first two films as I didn’t want to until after reading the series. To take a break between reading books five and six I read Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin. I know that may sound random, but that’s typical of my reading habits. I jump around a lot between genres and decades and prefer not to focus on one type of book. Although I knew the plot having watched the original film many years ago, it was still a great read. I’m now reading The New Wife by JP Delaney, because it’s a popular, modern novel and I think it’s important to keep an eye on what the big sellers are. I don’t know what I will read next, but I can see the 1Q84 trilogy by Murakami on my bookcase and I’m pretty sure it’s the only work of his I’ve still to read. I always enjoy this period between books, when I don’t yet know what is going to grab my attention.
The Fiction Factory 