Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

Editing has started! So far, I’m halfway through chapter 3 with the major re-write. But, prior to that, I’d reduced the ‘story’ element of the editing notes from 20 to 12 items, and dealt with 15 of the other notes I’d made whilst writing/re-reading the first draft. I’ve also made progress on the drawing I’m …

Continue reading Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

Easter, and my wife, Valerie’s, birthday occurred in the last seven days, so progress has been interrupted. Valerie reached a ‘significant’ age, so I took her away for the day and night and we didn’t return home until this evening, after a smashing short break. Of course, I did absolutely nothing on the book during …

Continue reading Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

A busy few days. But I’m now approaching the point where I can actually begin the editing process. So, what have I been doing this past week? Well, I visited 81 different website posts to consult them on various relevant topics. Some of those were just a few paragraphs, others a few pages, with much …

Continue reading Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

Writers know you never completely let go of a project at the first draft stage, but it’s sensible to take some sort of break from the work. Last week, I did a few odds and ends but nothing substantial. This week, I’ve been domestically quite busy. The garden called for some labour. I attended a …

Continue reading Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

Now that the first draft is finished, I’ve had a rest from it this week. Though, as other writers will appreciate, you never completely let go at this stage. I’ve been tinkering with the character sketches of the new players, adding some new research links, watching a bit of TV related to the subject, and …

Continue reading Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

Whoopee! Hurrah! Gadzooks! And, yeah! The first draft of book 2 of the Generation Mars series is finished. It now stands at 112,061 words, 8,740 more than last week’s total. I actually finished this stage on Monday, but thought I’d wait till today to let you know, since Wednesdays have been my usual days for …

Continue reading Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

Book 2 of the Generation Mars series now stands at 103,321 words, which is an increase of 9867 on last week’s figure. The novel continues to go well, in spite of a few impediments to progress. I thought I’d have the first draft completed by now. However, along with constant new developments in science and …

Continue reading Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

Book 2 of the Generation Mars series now stands at 93454 words in first draft form. That’s an increase of 11,793 on last week’s figure, so advancement continues to go well, in spite of certain personal impediments to progress. Last week, I thought I’d have the first draft completed by this time. However, along with …

Continue reading Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

Continuing to go well, the follow-up to Blood Red Dust now stands at 74,558 words, which is an increase of 11,460 for the week. New ideas are coming through the creative process and I’m reaching the denouement now; tension ramped and pace increasing. It’s great fun writing like this. Those of you who’ve read Blood …

Continue reading Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

The new book is progressing well. More research done, and another 9,000+ words added to bring it to 27,273 today. I think the book is probably about a third done in first draft at present. Of course, unforeseen changes may occur before the end to make it either longer or shorter, but my current prediction …

Continue reading Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

A short progress report. The week has gone well, with some new research done (there’s a lot happening regarding Mars at the moment!). I’ve added 13,345 words to last week’s start, making the total word count 18,145 to date. The story continues to flow and the characters are developing. I wake up at night sometimes …

Continue reading Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

You really should have had this update yesterday, as I do them on Wednesdays. But I was actually writing (and, tell the truth, the heavy cold that had me in its clutches throughout Xmas and the New Year celebrations had returned to turn my brain to mush for most of the waking hours). Today, I …

Continue reading Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

Progress on the WIP: SciFi in the Making.

Many readers followed my progress on Blood Red Dust, so I've decided to run a similar series of short blogs for the second book in the series. The new book is underway. I have a small core of characters, some of whom readers met in Blood Red Dust, and others new to the series. The …

Continue reading Progress on the WIP: SciFi in the Making.

Looking for the Best Word? Tip #15

If you read this post, you’re in good company. I recently did a Google search for ‘Writer Help’ to answer a Quora question. The search brought up 270,000,000 results. 2 of the posts from this series were listed on the first page in the 1st 10 results! A series offering to help writers make their …

Continue reading Looking for the Best Word? Tip #15

Today’s Definitely The Day!

What better place to launch a new science fiction novel than a convention devoted to scifi and fantasy? Well, today (19th November) I’m here at Fantasticon 2016, in Hull, signing copies of my latest book, Blood Red Dust. Set on Mars before the end of this century, it follows the lives of a set of …

Continue reading Today’s Definitely The Day!