Writing update: August 2020

I can’t believe it’s August. Summer is nearly at an end, and I’ve barely accomplished any of the things I wanted to.

That isn’t entirely a bad thing. Despite everything going on this summer, I’ve managed to enjoy it. I started a new job, I was able to spend some great quality time with the people in my closest bubble, I was outside more than I normally am… all in all, it was a fairly good few months.

Just not a productive few months, as far as my writing and photography go. And that’s worn on me a bit.

I am going to make it a priority to fix that over the next little while, but today I want to instead bring a little positivity back by celebrating what I did accomplish the last month. It isn’t much, but it is something. And something is always better than nothing, right?

Novel-length WIPs

I got another chapter of N written, but I didn’t write on nearly as many days as I was hoping to. Still, I’m about a fifth of the way through the manuscript now. Hopefully I can make some good progress over the next couple of months. Then, if I participate in NaNoWriMo, finish it in November.

As for my querying of BC, well, it’s coming along about as well as it was at the time of my last update. I sent one query out in July, but my bigger accomplishment here is that I cleaned up my list of potential agents a bit. I’ve been building the list for years, ever since I knew querying agents was the route I wanted to take. Naturally, some of the agents on it have changed agencies, changed their accepted genres, or left the business altogether. Usually I alter my agent entries as I go, but it was time my list—or part of it, at least—reflected those changes.

Short stories

I didn’t do a lot of work in this area, but, in an effort to stay positive… I suppose I could say that I figured out a way to rework one of my stories. I didn’t start that rework, just came up with the idea. But again, at least that’s something.

To summarize…

So, like I said, not a whole lot of progress over the past month, but at least I can point to a few moments of success. I’m focusing on those, and using them to propel me forward into doing more, and better, work throughout August. If all goes well, that should set me up for a better base to work from in the fall.