While I have been writing virtually my entire life, I am still very new to the actual publishing part. I learn as I go and (hopefully) I won't make the same mistakes twice. Additionally, I occasionally discover something that pleasantly surprises me.
I have been working on the sequel to "Dead Man's Breath" since July, before DMB was even released. I had a basic story idea and I did a fairly detailed outline in a day, pretty much the same method as I used on DMB. That's where things slowed down, almost to a halt. I dedicate at least two hours a day to writing, that time often being in the middle of the night. After 4 months, I had a lot of words but that is about it. The story wasn't progressing as I had hoped.
Five days ago, I decided to scrap what I had written so far. I did another outline with the same basic story idea, but changed some key elements that I felt were slowing the story down. If I had "writer's block", making these changes has busted through it. Time will tell if it's any good or not, but I feel like I accomplished more in 5 days than I did in 4 months.
My goal is to have the first draft finished by Christmas, but as I've stated before I'm not holding myself to any deadlines on this one.
Speaking of deadlines, I recently submitted another short story to a magazine and hope to hear if it's been accepted or rejected by December 1. I'll keep you all posted.
On the subject of short stories, I am working on another one for the magazine that I covet having a story published in. That is a goal I have set for myself and look forward to the day I can tell you about it.
Looking ahead to 2021, in addition to the sequel to "Dead Man's Breath", I will likely publish a novelette and/or an anthology of short stories, and possibly a children's book.
Thank you for joining me on this journey and I'll talk to you soon!