We’re back with another update on the writing progress for draft 3 of Soulformer book 1. This was not as explosive productivity-wise as last month, but I still soldiered on with what I could.
For those following along month to month, I got roughly 20% of the draft done last month alone. This was fueled mostly by my excitement from Futurescapes and my reinvigorated plan moving forward with book 1. This month was a bit more realistic. I finished up chapter 8 and revised chapters 9, 10, and most of 11, so I would say I’m around 27% of the way through this draft now.
Unfortunately, a lot of important projects came up at work this month that involved the creative side of my brain, which meant I was exhausted and not in the mood to buckle down and reengage it again when I got home. This is something that I struggle with regularly when it comes to my writing. I spend all day at work, engaging my critical thinking and writing/drafting skills, so by the time I’m done, all I want to do is sit and relax. Turn off the brain for a bit. It’s frustrating, but there’s not a whole lot I can do about it. One is something I’m paid to do, something I have to do to provide for my family, and the other, while I enjoy it, is just a hobby for now.
As far as the actual revisions went, I did enjoy revisiting the chapters I got done this month. The ending of chapter 8 leads in to a great action set piece with Kinnick for chapter 9, and I loved tweaking it, pairing it down, getting it perfected. You get another great glimpse in to Kinnick as a warrior and what the limits really are for his power.
Chapter 10 is slower, but it provides some good character work for Merith. We’re also introduced to a new minor-ish character named Bernice. In the original two drafts, she was much less consequential than the revisions I have planned for later chapters in draft three. I think it will make these earlier chapters more impactful with everyone’s interactions with Bernice, especially Merith, and she should feel much less like a throwaway character.
Chapter 11 gives us some good insight into Trim and hints at more depth with Kinnick’s character as well. He still keeps everything close to the chest, even from himself, but there are hints at his past and cracks start to show on who he truly is as a person. This leads into another flashback chapter for 12 which I’ll get to this month.
All in all, I’m a little disappointed with my output this month, though I still ended up getting at least 30 or so pages done of the now 398-page draft. Here’s to hoping work can slow down just a tad to leave me less exhausted by the end of the day. Who knows, with my car in the shop for the foreseeable future due to part shortages and with me taking public transportation, maybe I can utilize some of that travel time to my advantage.
Until next time!