Month: June 2024

06/03/2024 House-Spousing, Writing Sprints, Book Choices

My family is slightly confused with me being around so much.

Though they’re also happy with the fact that the chores normally taking two or three nights to finish (because of sheer exhaustion) has been done during the morning, with the rest of the day being spent actually being around. For the first time in 15 years.

I bet $5 that they all start begging for me to find odd jobs soon. Han asked me quite bluntly, “Dad, don’t you have any writing to do?” when I dropped off the second set of folded clothes.

I did take her advice and made it through thirty minutes of writing before I was called away to help with the household. With over 700 words, I felt pretty good about myself and my craft. Right up until I realized how much I was putting into the story.

It’s looking like novella-range is going to be hit quite easily, and I’m wondering if I will be able to sell it, or if I’ll need to figure out how to either pare it down immensely or add to it until it’s at the minimum word count for novel-length.

I mean… I’d try it.

While trying to figure out what to do with that, I’m looking through my collection of sci-fi books to read over. I’ve one I’ve read before (but it’s been a minute) and one that I can’t remember buying.

I keep finding books in my storage building!

I’ve read “Ender’s Game” before, but that was… 20 years ago? Maybe more? It’s a bit of a blur to recall. “Rendezvous with Rama” by Arhur C. Clarke looks like it’s supposed to be in my collection, but I really don’t remember buying it, or it being loaned/gifted to me. I’m not sure which one to look over and give a review, so if you’ve made it this far, leave a comment on which one you’d like me to talk about!

I might attempt another writing sprint this evening, but the part I’m getting to will be action-intensive, so I’ll want to make sure I handle it correctly. Most likely it’ll be an evening of resume building (yay…) and Fallout.

Meanwhile, the Carport Kitten named Baka is trying to destroy my shoes.

The Chucks are NOT scratching posts!

Stay safe out there, folks!

-JB Swift

06/02/2024 Story Length Troubles

When my last short story submission was rejected, I thought to take it in stride and see what to do with the document. It had a good premise and could have been part of a collection. I’d even hoped to write up a full-length novel that would incorporate several storylines.

The American Tall Tales are too much fun to focus on just one, after all.

But this story needed to be rewritten. It was old; it had several problems and dialogue issues and felt way too fast-paced. So, I took notes from beta readers and tried again.

It’s turning out to be a good story! But there’s a problem:

Magazines don’t accept short stories over 20,000 words, and this one is currently over 13,000. I have a sinking suspicion that when finished, it’ll be around the 25K-30K range…

That’s a novella. Novellas don’t really sell and are rarely even given a read-through before rejection.

What to do?

For the moment, I’m just going to finish the rewrite and see how it looks. If I can pare it down to submission requirements, I’ll be golden. If not, I’ll have to think of something else.

While I am complaining, I’m complaining about a good thing, folks. Something to keep in mind.

We’ll see how it turns out! Stay safe out there.

-JB Swift

06/01/2024 Speedy Saturday Posting

Today’s going to be spent mostly away from the desk. Now that the rest of the family is aware that I’m back in town, the calls for help have been coming in.

I’m off to help transport a dog to training school and all the errands that have sat on the backburner while I was rambling about up north.

Stay safe out there, folks! Sunday looks to be more relaxed. Let’s hope.

-JB Swift