About a month after starting the first draft of A BOY FROM OSTORA, I am 23k words into the manuscript. Not bad at all! The previous installation in this series, A BOY FROM NORRU, currently clocks in at 50k words. So, if this were the original, I would be about halfway done with the first draft. However, I do see the sequel running a bit longer. I’m allowing myself more allowance in world-building for this story, where I aimed for brevity in the original.
Once I finish drafting A BOY FROM OSTORA, I’ll likely step away from these two stories and write something new entirely. I’ve been reading so much adult fantasy lately, but I haven’t written any since March of last year. That’s what I plan to focus on next.
Speaking of anniversaries, this October will make two years since I last worked on one of my favorite personal projects, titled SCOURGE-WALKER. I wrote the whole 90k-word manuscript in about a month and a half. While the overall story is a little weak, I had some character and worldbuilding ideas in there that I’d love to revisit. Perhaps I’ll return to that manuscript in October. But that’s six months away, so I have time to consider.
In the last month, I read The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin (which I absolutely adored) and Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey (which I absolutely despised). I need to do more research to understand why the Dragonriders of Pern series is so beloved. My guess would be that it was revolutionary for its time. However, I have no interest in reading a story that glorifies an egotistical abuser. Not sorry. And even beyond the fact that the story excuses F’lar’s reprehensible actions, I didn’t find the story at all compelling. If the story were rooted more in Lessa’s personal conflict, it would have been more interesting and less sexist.
But I digress. If you’re looking for a story that’s inclusive and has none of the above problems, read The Fifth Season. That book was so good. So, so good. Enough said. I also read Frankenstein last week, which holds up very well. Shelley’s prose is superb.
In the coming month, I hope to make substantial progress on A BOY FROM OSTORA. I would normally set a word count goal, but I’ve been applying to jobs, and I don’t know what my schedule will look like once I land one. Plus, I’ve got fitness and reading goals to hit! So rather than feel like I need to force out as many words as possible, I’ll just focus on writing well and writing consistently. What more can you do?
– AJG
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