IWSG: Writing Regrets

Welcome to 2022! Here's hoping it's a better year for all of us.

This isn't just the first post of the year, but also the first Insecure Writer's Support Group post for 2022. Learn more about the IWSG on their website, Facebook page, or Twitter feed. 

Our hosts for this month are Erika Beebe, Olga Godim (no link available), Sandra Cox, Sarah Foster, and Chemist Ken.

Our question for this month is on regrets, not resolutions: What's the one thing about your writing career you regret the most? Were you able to overcome it?

I would say my biggest regret is not finishing and publishing more of my work, specifically, Catalyst in the Crucible, which would be the third novel in the science fiction Catalyst Chronicles series. I got stuck on a story set between Twinned Universes and Catalyst in the Crucible, which made it difficult to move forward. (I have actually drafted part of this novel, but it's not finished yet.) Part of the problem with the novel is that although the first two books feature time travel, Catalyst in the Crucible would (a) throw some life-changing problems at my characters and (b) move into a new subgenre of science fiction. I'm not sure how fans would react to a mid-series change.

Of course, as long as I'm still able to write, there's always the possibility that I could go back and finish the story. I think about it occasionally. It's hard to accomplish when there are so many other writing projects I want to work on. (My writing goals for this year are to publish two books in my cozy mystery series and a collection of short stories in my fantasy Season Avatars series--so I can move forward and write more books in that universe.) Perhaps I should say my biggest regret is not being more productive, which would mean the best way to overcome that would be to stop blogging and return to fiction.

What are your writing regrets? Feel free to share them here--or, if you're here for the IWSG, leave a link to your blog post. I should also visit more bloggers this year!

Project Update 10/24/18

I figure if I'm going to reduce my blogging to once a week, I should use the time to let people know how my myriad projects are doing.

Writing: I have four (yes, four!) projects in rough draft. Dryads to Discover, my urban fantasy novel, is the farthest along at about 41,000 words. I started this one last year, but I took breaks from it to work on some short stories. I also have another novel in the works, this one tentatively called Medium's Quest. I'm about 11,000 words into it. I have a few hundred words on each of two short stories, one targeted for a solarpunk anthology that opens next year and one I might submit to pro markets--assuming I ever get them done.

These projects are all new worlds for me. I've decided I'm going to trunk "The Unnumbered World," a short story in the Catalyst Chronicles universe. This story was going to be set after Twinned Universes and follow one of the minor characters from that book. The plot isn't working out, at least for now; maybe someday I'll go back to it and figure out what to do. In the meantime, that clears the way for Catalyst in the Crucible, the next novel in that series. But before I can go back to that one, I'd better finish some of the other stories I currently have drafting.

Publishing: I wrote a short story about Robbie, one of the minor characters in the Season Avatars series, but I'm still not satisfied with the title or the blurb. It can be harder to blurb short stories than novels, at least for me. Once I manage to work that out, I'll have Maria create a cover for it. I'd like to publish it this year if possible. I also have a completed short story prequel to Dryads to Discover, but I'm going to hold that one until DtD is ready to publish and put them out close together.

Crochet: I'm currently finishing up a poodle, and then I want to make an infinity gauntlet. (Click the link for the Etsy store with the pattern.). The first gauntlet will probably be for my son, and then I may make a couple to sell. I still have to finish up a couple of other amigurumi that I started a while back.

Costuming: I really need to replace my Jawa robe, which has gotten a lot of wear in three years of trooping. I have one mostly sewn; I just need to finish some seams and weather it. I may need to make another hood to match the dye lot. Once I finish that, then I'd better make my Santa Jawa robe. The holiday parade I plan to wear it in is only a few weeks away!


So, are you working on any interesting projects? Feel free to share them in the comments.

Back on the Blog Chain: How Do You Spend Your Summer?

After a late start, Christine came up with a topic for this round of the blog chain:

How do you spend your summer? Catching up on writing projects, taking time off of writing? Getting inspired? Inquiring minds want to know.

Well, I'm definitely not taking a break from writing. I have several projects in the works, but the one I'm focusing on now is a prequel to my upcoming fantasy series. (I've discussed it here before as the Season Lords series, but I'm now leaning toward Season Avatars as the series name.) It's a novella that sets up the countries of Challen and Selath, where the series takes place. With luck, the muse, and lots of writing time, I'll have the first draft done by the end of the month. (Unless, of course, I just jinxed myself.) I'm making progress with Catalyst in the Crucible as well, though I still need to work out some issues. Plus there are several other short stories I want to work on too, though I don't know if I'll meet my original goal of publishing six new stories this year.

As much as I might like to, I don't spend all summer parked in front of my laptop. It seems we have something to do every weekend: birthday parties for my son's friends, weddings, other parties and showers, and even my high school reunion next month. (My husband skipped his.) My husband and I had not just one, but two date nights last month. (We attended a Sting concert and Second City at the Opera.) Last weekend, the three of us drove up to Madison, Wisconsin for a much-needed mini-vacation. We have more trips planned to museums and Tall Ships in Chicago in the next few weeks. No wonder I wound up writing in the car on the way to Madison; how else will I get it all done?

Summer's lease will have all too short a date with everything going on. I hope you enjoy your own summer. And be warned: if there's no topic pre-selected for the next Blog Chain, I'm going to pick my own.

Back on the Blog Chain: My Next Writing Project

Welcome to the first blog chain of the year! For this round, Katrina wants to learn about our writing projects:

Write about your next writing project. What is the genre? Is is one you've written before or is it a new venture? Do you have it all figured out or is it just a germ of an idea? What did you learn from your latest writing project that will make this one even better?

I currently have a novel and a short story in varying stages of editing/cover design. However, since I already discussed my novel, Twinned Universes, as part of The Next Big Thing meme, I'd like to talk about the next book in the Catalyst Chronicles series, Catalyst in the Crucible. The Catalyst Chronicles series comprises the stories listed below, in chronological order:

Lyon's Legacy (novella, published)
"The Mommy Clone" (short story, just came out on Sunday, more details tomorrow)
Twinned Universes (novel, in line editing/cover design)
Brave New Girl (short novella, partial draft)
Catalyst in the Crucible (novel, partial draft)
A Challenge of Catalysts (A few ideas but not started yet. This story will follow directly from Catalyst in the Crucible)

I consider "The Mommy Clone" and Brave New Girl bonus stories that aren't part of the main plot line but help to develop the characters.

Going back to Katrina's questions, Catalyst in the Crucible is science fiction. It's set several years after Twinned Universes and features some of the same characters. However, they're moving to different settings and interacting with new characters; both the settings and new characters require development. Part of what makes this story so difficult to write is what happens to the main character at the beginning of the story--and I can't say more without giving away spoilers.

I've been working on CitC for a couple of years; in fact, it was my most recent NaNoWriMo project. Although I made it past the 50K mark, I had trouble advancing in the story after that. I have most of the story figured out except for the climax. I also know the overall climax for the series, but I don't know yet how to get there from the end of CitC. I do have some ideas, however.

One thing I am doing differently on this project is writing out world-building ideas, preparing character worksheets, and trying to outline more. I'm normally a pantser, but the world is growing and becoming complicated to the point where I need to put it out on paper. I'm also hoping outlining will help me reduce the number of drafts required to get this story ready for the world.

Anyway, I'm blogging to avoid writing, so I'd better return to Catalyst in the Crucible.

Kate was the first to discuss this topic, and Christine will cover it tomorrow, so be sure to check out their blogs.

Back on the Blog Chain: Biggest Fear

This round, Christine challenges us to get to know our characters more deeply with the following question:

What is the main character of you current WiP MOST afraid of, and why? Don't use a previously finished work. This is all about discovering the inner motivations of your current characters - the ones you don't know that well yet.


I'm not sure what approach to take with this question, as I'm currently revising two finished stories and researching another idea that's so new I only have a couple ideas of what the MC will be like. At this point, all I know is that my heroine's name will probably be Lillian, she's an artist living in a small Midwestern town at the turn of the century, and she fears losing her freedom in marriage. All of the preceding is subject to change without notice. Perhaps it would be best to return to my NaNoWriMo project, even though that's a sequel to a finished story and uses the same MC at a different point in his life. In Catalyst in the Crucible, Paul is most afraid of losing the ones he loves. He lost his mother in Across Two Universes and still occasionally blames himself for her death. Now, some of his actions in Across Two Universes have triggered events that threaten everyone. I don't think I can say much more without going into spoilers.

Check out what Kat said before me and what Kate has to add!

Post-NaNo Slump

It's hard to imagine I finished NaNoWriMo only a week ago. I hate to say it, but I've written less than two thousand words since then. There are three reasons I can think of for my slump: NaNo pace is much faster than my usual one, Christmas prep (shopping, decorating, writing cards, wrapping presents, and baking), and pantsing my plot instead of following my outline. I think in the next few scenes, I can circle around back to the outline. Since this is first draft for this story, I'd rather forge ahead than rip out offending scenes. But I also need to challenge myself to write more when I have the opportunity instead of goofing off. I know I can write a thousand words an hour when I need to; I just need to need to do it, if you can follow that (grin).

How's your writing going post-NaNo?

Back On the Blog Chain: Where Do Characters Come From?

This round, Abby wants to learn about our characters:

Where do your characters come from? And once they've been introduced to you, how do you get to know them?

Kate posted before me, and Eric will post tomorrow.

Unfortunately for me, if there's such a thing as a Characters'R'Us store, I have yet to find it. I would say for me, characters tend to start with the original idea I get for a story. For example, when I came up with the idea for my novella "Move Over Ms. L.," I wanted to write about someone listening to the Beatles perform at the Cavern Club before they hit it big. I wanted a SF twist, so I came up with a time traveler from the future. I then started asking myself questions, such as "Why was this person go then and there?" and "Why was she in particular chosen for this mission?" Gradually, as I turned the idea over in my mind, the character of Joanna Lennon, the great-granddaughter of John Lennon who preferred science to rock'n'roll, came to mind. I don't often develop a character through directed questions the way I did for this particular story; more often, I look for people who might be involved in the particular story idea I have in mind and go from there, pre-writing in my thoughts as I think about characters and possible scenes for a story.

Another important source of characters for me is other characters. I've mentioned before in a previous blog chain post how my story ideas turn into family sagas. So after my first set of characters have their adventures, fall in love, and start families, I have to find something to do with their kids. My current projects, Across Two Universes and the sequel Catalyst in the Crucible, involve children of characters in "Move Over Ms. L." (I've de-Lennonized these books, so they're not direct sequels at this point. If I ever publish my novella, I'll have to decide if I want to use the original version or alter it to fit the other stories.)

I don't have a formal process for getting to know my characters. I don't normally write character sheets (I keep all that information in my head, though I did prepare a few character sheets as part of NaNoWriMo prep) or interview them. I get to know them as I play with them in my head, then as I write and revise. Sometimes they change considerably from draft to draft. I do feel part of me has to go into each character for me to make him or her authentic.

The phrasing of this question reminded me of the song "Getting to Know You," so I'll end this post by sharing this YouTube video from The King and I:

Trying New Things

Welcome back to Monday, everyone. Hope you had a good weekend. We've had a lot scheduled the last two weekend, and even though we didn't have anything planned, we were still busy as well. On Saturday, I took Alex both to the library and the pool. We shopped for a new bed for him yesterday, then visited the Chicago Botanic Garden and wound up having dinner at a restaurant with my in-laws. More of my husband's relatives stopped by, so we ended up with a spontaneous family dinner for twenty!

Saturday with my son turned out to be a success because he was able to overcome his fear of loud public bathrooms to do these activities. For a long time, he showed no interest in going to the library because he was spooked of the bathroom there. I told him we'd use the bathroom at home so we wouldn't have to use the one there. When we got to the pool, we had to go through the women's locker room to reach the pool. He balked at first, but luckily there weren't any hair dryers running, so I hurried him through. He wasn't interested in the wading pool at first, but after he played in the sand area for a while and had a snack, I was able to coax him in. Once there, he had a wonderful time.

To bring this around to writing, I think it's very useful to keep trying new things. By challenging yourself to do something different, you learn and gain new skills and perspectives. For a long time, I wrote by the seat of my pants. This meant that after completing a first draft, I'd think of new plot points and end up writing an entirely new draft. Sometimes I'd go through several loops like this. I've had ideas for the sequel to Across Two Universes (working title: Catalyst in the Crucible) for quite some time now, but although I had a decent sense of the plot, other areas really need to be fleshed out before I can progress further. So I started by writing myself a rough outline of the story. I was surprised by the inspiration that came from doing this; I generated other plot ideas as I wrote. In some sections, I have multiple ideas listed. It's nice to have a map of my novel that still gives me flexibility to change the story as I write. I'm currently working  a series of character sheets to help me keep everything consistent. When I get those done, I'll be ready to return to my draft and keep going with it.

Have you tried anything new with your writing--a different genre, style, or technique? What did you learn from it?