Tag: Progress

Why I’m Pretty Crap at Marketing.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, opinion, Progress9 Comments

On Wednesday, I normally post a piece about progress on the current WIP. But we’re in a col there; War Over Dust is undergoing physical production to prepare for launch on 2nd September at the inimical Fantasticon 2017 in Hull, UK City of Culture. So, to fill the gap, I’m posting about my personal relationship …

Continue reading Why I’m Pretty Crap at Marketing.

Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Fiction, Mars, Progress

The time has come. The time is now! Here’s the cover for ‘War Over Dust’, the second in the Generation Mars series. Gabi Grubb’s cover graced book one, and she’s done it again with some fine work for this volume. I love it! To be ready for the launch on 2nd September, make sure you’ve …

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

Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Fiction, Mars, Progress

War Over Dust, the second in the Generation Mars series, has a cover! Gabi Grubb’s cover graced book one with some fine work, and she’s done it again with this volume. I’m over the Moon with it. Should I tease you with some clues, or give you the whole picture now? Difficult. I think I’ll …

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

Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Fiction, Mars, Progress

A very short update tonight. The book is currently undergoing typesetting. War Over Dust, the second in the Generation Mars series, is also being covered by a creation I’m looking forward to displaying here. Gabi Grubb’s cover graced book one and she’s currently working on this volume. Fantastic Books Publishing, Gabi, and I are in …

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

Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Fiction, Mars, Progress

The MS is complete. I even have a title, agreed after consultations with my publisher, Fantastic Books Publishing. Of which, more later in this post. Because, in publishing terms, the book has a short lead in time (we want to launch at Fantasticon in Hull; a fantasy/gaming/scifi convention that takes place on 2nd and 3rd …

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

Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Fiction, Mars, Progress2 Comments

Some weeks are a country walk, others a trek across mountainous desert. This one has been a touch demanding. But, the book itself is now done. It lacks a title, of which I have a brainstorming session’s worth of around 50 at present. And the blurb demands to be done. I usually try for three …

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

Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Fiction, Mars, Progress

Reading each chapter, making amendments, additions, deletions, corrections, and then feeding them through grammar checker, Prowritingaid.com. It removes unintended repetitions, weak verbs, and many other small errors you can miss when reading from the screen. It’s pretty intense. But I’m up to page 329 of 411. Twelve chapters to go; mostly in the denouement now, …

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

Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Fiction, Mars, Progress2 Comments

I’m currently reading each chapter and then feeding them through grammar checker, Prowritingaid.com. This removes unintended repetitions, weak verbs, and many of other small errors the eye misses when reading from the screen. It’s a fairly intense process. So far, I'm at page 165 of 412 in a Word doc that's double spaced. After that …

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

Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Fiction, Mars, Progress

The first rewrite is complete! Whoopee! But that’s by no means the end of the process. Having made the changes to the story elements, I’m now checking for consistency on all 36 named characters over the 54 chapters. So far, I’ve done two of the major players and two minor ones. It’s a check to …

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

Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, Mars, Progress5 Comments

It’s been a funny old week. A few unrelated events have disturbed the intended plain sailing of the rewrite. And, yesterday was my birthday. A fun day spent at the local hospital in the morning, where two lovely ladies in their uniforms probed various orifices and inserted implements of torture in an attempt to resolve …

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

Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Fiction, Mars, Progress

Halfway through the major re-write, and a good many story elements yet to change. That’s the result of working as a pantster: plot develops as the story is created, and that impacts on parts already written. It’s particularly influential on the denouement on this occasion, since I had a ‘light bulb’ moment during an interrupted …

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

Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Fiction, Mars, Progress

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 …

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Progress on the WIP: #SciFi in the Making.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, Fiction, Mars, Progress3 Comments

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.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Mars, Progress3 Comments

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.

On By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Fiction, Mars, Progress

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.