CM Simpson: Writer & Gamer

Last week, we took a brief look at how the accepted place of short stories in a writer's career path has changed, and highlighted a few of the ways writing short stories could be viewed, now that independent publishing has come of age. This week, we take a very brief look at writing a short story from a time investment versus returns perspective. The Cold-Blooded Business Perspective: From a business point of view, short stories don't seem like much of an investment. For one thing, you're almost certainly not likely to make your money back. If an 8,000-word short story takes a minimum of 8 hours to write (and that's if you do not outline), editing takes around another 2 (and that's only if you write cleanly), and formatting and uploading takes at least another 1 (if you have multiple platforms to publish to), you're looking at a basic minimum of 11 hours of work. At $50 an hour, that's $550 the story has to make back for you - plus the cost of ...

So, I hurt my back. This time I was lucky, and was still mobile after it tweaked. Last time, that took a few days. The thing is sitting or standing still makes it stiffen up and hurt, so I've had to spend time away from the desk and get out and walk. Anyone playing Ingress, locally, will have noticed the increase in activity, as will my PokemonGo buddies. Anyway, after two days of this, I'm able to sit for longer at the desk, and write more. The side bonus to all this is that my wrist and elbow are getting more rest than I would have allowed them otherwise, and are hurting a lot less, too. I can type for longer periods, now, too. So - exercise, writer-folk - apparently it really is good for you. I forgot to take pictures today, but remembered yesterday... that and I saw a blue tongue in the garden when I got home from my last walk, and that lifted my heart. Apologies for the picture quality. If I can find it, again, I'll use the other camera.Yesterday, it wasn't stop...

The Songster & the Pirates released on September 10,2018. It is a stand-alone science-fiction short story with elements of fantasy set in the same universe as Odyssey, and the Lunar Wolves. What’s it About? Once a space merc, now a singer, Taran keeps her identity as a siren secret. When spacewolves join the audience at her current gig, she knows what they’re looking for. The only question is can she slip away, before the wolves and her past can catch up with her? Here are the first 500 words of that story: The Songster & the Pirates First 500 Words Taran looked out into the audience, noting the four hulking figures in dark grey ship suits, mingling amongst them. She knew spacers when she saw them, and she knew werewolves, too—and these were trying way too hard to blend in to be interested in anyone but her. She studied them, as she continued to sing, letting her eyes rove over the audience, and snatching details of her targets as she went. It wouldn’t do to s...

It's been another disrupted week, but things have still gotten done. Road-tripping aside, it's still school holidays, here, although they end soon, and things will settle back into a more normal routine. This week I've had three days where I've managed less than 5 hours of work; the rest have consisted of long hours at the desk, and I'm now feeling the warning signs of another RSI flare-up. I may be getting too old for this kind of thing... and, I just need to find the the limits of the new limits - which I don't think I've done, yet. Working on it - hence the outrageous goals set for this month. When it comes to testing how far I can push it, they were it - and according to past experience, they should have been achievable. Without more ado - here's what was achieved.... followed by what was not: Progress: October 7-13, 2018 New words produced: 23,989 Outlines and Notes: 6,000 Words compiled: 0 Works completed: 0 Wor...