At Capclave last weekend, I was asked about a change that took place in this blog some time ago, where I more or less stopped writing about writing. It wasn’t something I made an official announcement about, but it was a conscious decision. There are so many writers out there writing about writing that I felt I was only repeating more or less what others were saying. I decided that I would focus on other things on my blog: science fiction as a literature; technology; and other random stuff that came to mind. What I would avoid was writing in detail about writing or the writing process the way I used to. Instead, I would use that time to, you know, write. With a few exceptions, I’ve stuck to that. When I do write about writing, it is just to provide vague updates or make announcements about things that are coming.
So this post is not about the process of writing but instead about some current projects that are keeping me busy. I received a check in the mail yesterday for some fiction writing I did. That check officially pushed me past an important milestone: I’ve made more money writing in 2012 than in all of the years combined since my first professional sale (2007-2011). We are not talking about enormous sums, but things have picked up for me and that pleases me enormously. Money is not why I write, of course, but it is one measure of progress in a field without a whole lot of concrete measurements.
Here are a few of the writing projects I am currently working on that are keeping me busy:
- Novella. I have been trying to write a novella for some time now, after writing quite a few shorter pieces. I’ve finally gained some traction on this story in the last few weeks and I’m hoping to be able to send the story off by the end of November. At this point, I’m not sure how long the final piece will be, but it looks as if it will be somewhere between the 15,000 – 20,000 word range.
- Story for the Beyond the Sun anthology. Bryan Thomas Schmidt invited me to submit a story to his Beyond the Sun anthology, which last week was successfully funded on Kickstarter. I sent him a story as soon as he asked. Bryan like the story but asked for a couple of revisions. I am working on completing those revisions today and getting him the final story. There is no guarantee that the story will make the final cut, but I’m hopeful.
- Book Reviews for InterGalactic Medicine Show. I write the science fiction book review column for InterGalactic Medicine Show and my next column is due in about a week. I’ve read two great books this time around and I just have to write up my reviews, which shouldn’t be too difficult.
- Interview column for InterGalactic Medicine Show. A couple of times a year, I also do an interview for InterGalactic Medicine Show. I interviewed Jack McDevitt for the July 2012 issue, for instance. And I am wrapping up the final draft of my interview with Ken Liu, which should appear in the November issue of the magazine.
Of course, I also have some regular pieces that I do here on this blog. I am hard at work on Episode 41 of my Vacation in the Golden Age. And I am also working on the next Going Paperless post. It’s plenty to keep me busy, especially when you add into the mix a fulltime job, and a fulltime parent to two little kids.
And to top it off, I’ve got a bunch of chores to complete around the house today as well.
What’s keeping you busy this weekend?
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Jamie, I write about writing not to inform but as a way of explaining my writing self to myself – a self examination that might inform on what I am doing wrong.
Bud, part of the reason I don’t do that anymore is because you do it for me. 😉 Seriously, your posts often express very much what I am thinking about my own work and I can just point people to your stuff and say: yes, this! And, of course, part of it is that I’d rather spend my time writing stories instead of talking about writing stories. I totally get where you are coming from, though. It can be hard, as a writer, not to have anyone to talk to about the process. That’s why I love science fiction conventions so much. Especially the “bar-cons.”