Musings & Thoughts for Monday, May 20, 2024, or: Weekend Update, Part the Second…and Back to the (Novel Writing) Front Lines

Late Morning, Monday, May 20, 2024, Madison, New Hampshire

Greetings, everyone. It’s a slightly sunnier, warmer spring day in my nook of Madison’s Eidelweiss District. Currently, the temperature is 64°F (18°C) under cloudy conditions. With humidity at 66% and the wind blowing from the southwest at 2 MPH (4 Km/H), the heat index is at 73°F. The forecast for today calls for partly sunny skies (yay!) and a maximum of 78° F (23° C). This evening, the skies will be mostly clear and the minimum will be 50° F (10° C).

Weekend Update, Part the Second: How I Spent My Sunday

My Sunday was, I suppose, quiet and uneventful. I didn’t work on the novel; I was too tired to even think about it, and it is not a good idea to work on a project, even if it’s something you consider your “Passion Project,” without taking a break. I did fret that I have not added any new copy to the manuscript since I wrote Scene One for Chapter 17, but that’s how life often is for writers.

So, I did what I usually do on Sundays. I spent time – too much, I think – online, tried to play the Runway scenario in Regiments with a British armored (or, in the King’s English, “armoured”) and got my ass handed to me by the AI Warsaw Pact forces, installed the Amazon Music app to my Samsung TV in my bedroom last night, and attempted to watch Rogue One: A Star Wars Story again – only to fall asleep almost at the same place in the movie that I had the night before.

(Note to self: Try watching movies at a more decent time instead of hanging out online after 8 PM.)

An exciting life, I do not have.

On Writing & Storytelling: The State of the Novel

Consequently, this is where I stand, statistically, with the second volume of the Reunion Duology:
Number of Completed Chapters (including the Prologue): 16
Chapters Underway: One, with one scene completed
Number of Pages (based on a paper size setting of 6 inches by 9 inches): 380
Number of Words: 95,833

Alex Diaz-Granados, A Certain Point of View, Too

To my chagrin, the last two workdays (Thursday and Friday of last week) were woefully, frustratingly unproductive. As a result, I have not made any progress with Reunion: Coda since I added the first scene to Chapter 17 on Wednesday.

Consequently, this is where I stand, statistically, with the second volume of the Reunion Duology:

• Number of Completed Chapters (including the Prologue): 16
• Chapters Underway: One, with one scene completed
• Number of Pages (based on a paper size setting of 6 inches by 9 inches): 380
• Number of Words: 95,833

I am proud of myself for getting this far along into Reunion: Coda. I have tried writing a novel several times; I never finished writing even a first draft because I always chose a genre I wasn’t prepared to write in (science fiction was one, and historical fiction was another). With Reunion: Coda, though, it’s different. I’m only a few chapters away from completion, and instead of quitting after a few weeks of struggling with the first chapters of a project, this time I’ve spent over 14 months on the manuscript.

(Maybe it’s because there is some demand for Reunion: Coda, or maybe because the novel is a continuation of my novella, Reunion: A Story, but it looks like I will finish and publish it in 2024.)

My goal is to finish Chapter 17 (That Moment Divine). That means I have to work on Scene Two today, or at least get it going. So, guys, that’s what I’m planning to do when I get back to my desk after lunch. And, if my Muse, Calliope, is in a good mood, I will pull it off.

This is all the news I have to share today, so I’ll say “Goodbye” here. Until next time, stay safe, and I’ll catch you on the sunny side of things.