Reading
Last week’s reading wrap up was largely negative and kind of a bummer. Fortunately, I have more positive things to say this week.
I finished Relic of the Gods by Philip C Quaintrell, book 3 in The Echoes Saga. I mentioned last week about a minor gripe I had with this story, and though that didn’t resolve itself, I still enjoyed the wild ride of a climax. I didn’t know this going in, but though this volume is book 3 out of 9, it’s actually the end of an arc. Books 4-6 are another arc taking place decades later, and books 7-9 are the same. This is actually a huge relief, as I can confidently walk away from this series for a little while and come back without losing too much. The writing still leaves a lot to be desired, and I don’t anticipate it getting that much better in later books, but I’ve been treating this series as something fun and easy, and there’s always a place for those kinds of books in my life.
Next, I read the 4 collected volumes of Star Wars: Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith by Charles Soule & Giuseppe Camucoli. I borrowed these digitally from the library through the Hoopla app and read them on my tablet. These were a breath of fresh air, as I feel like I’ve been steeped in medieval fantasy and all the associated tropes for so long. This comic run deals with events immediately after Anakin Skywalker becomes Darth Vader (spoiler!). The thing I like about “side stories” in the Star Wars universe is that we get a lot of minutiae that gets glossed over in the movies and some of the bigger TV shows. There are planets, cultures, and characters that we get to explore in more depth. We get more character development of Darth Vader himself, which actually adds a bit of nuance to a man who kills first and never asks questions later. If your library system has comics, I’d suggest going this route. Bonus points if you have a tablet and can read them digitally. If you have it in your budget, you can buy the paperbacks for each of the four volumes for ~$19 each at Bookshop.org. Don’t use the devil book website if you don’t have to. You know which one I’m talking about.
Lastly, I read Refuse to Be Done by Matt Bell, a novelist and writing advice columnist. I follow Matt’s newsletter, and it’s always a nice pick-me-up when it lands in my inbox. In this book, Matt goes through his novel writing process by dividing the three drafts he writes into three chapters in this book.
This book shares a lot of the wisdom I hear in my critique group, which has been extremely helpful in the last 7 or so months since I joined. The format of dividing it in three chapters, one for each draft, was really helpful for me. Matt drives home on how the first draft should be loose and kind of a mess. He essentially gives you permission to write that draft any way you can, as long as you complete it. The final draft will look nothing like this first one, but it’s an essential step in the process and can’t be skipped.
This leads into the next section rather well.
Writing
I’ve gotten my notes down on a computer. I’ve revised them quite a bit. Now it’s time to produce words. In that regard, I’ve been doing okay. It’s probably normal to start out slow. Despite this, the story is already starting to take shape, and I’m surprised some days with how much I write. My current daily goal is 500 words per day, 7 days a week, but I want to be able to up that to 1,000 words per day. Wish me luck. The progress will be recorded on this blog.
MYTHOS – First Draft progress report: 6,166/120,000 – 5.1%
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What have you been reading and/or writing this week? Let me know in the comments below.
The Night Bulletin 