CM Simpson: Writer & Gamer

Over the last two weeks, we've looked at the business side of why write short stories - something I hate doing. I'm a writer, dammit! I love story. I love seeing worlds unfold beneath my fingers, to watch characters come to life, to see the story unfurl - but, let's be real, business is important if you want to make a living from that kind of magic, so it needs to be looked at. This week, we get to look at something much more fun: the creative reasons to write short stories. This is one of those intangible things that writers need to grow and develop. It's hard to measure from a business sense, but it's there, and it's vital. To put it briefly, short stories are a way of discovering new stories, new characters and new worlds - in the same way I've found flash fiction can be - but that depends on your approach. Up until recently, my main approach was to simply sit down and start typing. If I was writing for a magazine, I'd make sure I was writing in...

Last week, we looked at the business return of writing short stories and publishing or selling them - but we only looked at it in terms of pure monetary earnings for time spent, and there are other business benefits that can be calculated, depending on why you chose to write the short story in the first place, since we can create with additional purposes to telling a good tale. We can, for instance, write for a specific market. An anthology opportunity might come up, where we get to work with other authors to produce a collection, either writing to a specific theme, or in a specific world or setting. Many of these anthologies won't pay a professional rate, and definitely won't be guaranteed an equivalent monetary return for time. You need to first decide if that's an acceptable trade, but you need to make that decision based on a number of other, both positive and negative, factors: the opportunity to be part of the anthology - since these don't come up all that of...

This week things I kicked into a higher gear. The problem with being sick is things pile up, even though you step back so you can heal. This week, I continued to get the publishing schedule back on track, and I’m nowhere near being a month ahead of myself—although I am getting a lot closer. I’m going to do another short version of where I’m at, and maybe do a goal progress summary at the end of June. I’ll also do a blog later this month on the changes I’m making, as I learn more about this crazy indie publishing universe. In the meantime, here is what was achieved in the week just gone: Progress: May 6-12, 2018 New words produced: 37,829 Outlines and Notes: 4,331 Words compiled: 0 Works completed: 0 Works edited: 1 ( Mack ‘n’ Me: Blaedergil’s Host x2 – third edit in progress) Covers created: 0 Works formatted: 0 Works published: 0 Works released: 1 ( Rocky & the Raptors ) Works submitted: 1 ( TBA ) C...

Well, the first week of April went well, right up until the seventh, when my back tweaked, and set me, literally, on my back. From that time, right through to the end of the second week of April, things got tricky. I could only sit for limited lengths of time, so I had to triage what I could and couldn’t do. Projects of a lower priority were dropped, including the work I was doing for National Poetry Month, and both the poetry and flash fiction collections. I also dropped the 30 Days of Writing challenges by Shut Up & Write, but didn’t stop writing every day; I just had to be more focussed, so I could hit my publishing deadlines. I’m hoping to pick up some of the short fall in the third week of April, but we’ll see how we go. My back is still not a hundred per cent, so I’ll be pushing it, but very, very carefully. In the meantime, here’s what got done over the last two weeks. Progress: April 1-7, 2018 New words produced: 28,466 Outlines and Notes: 3,792 Words...

March’s progress started well, but then slowed down in the last two weeks due to a back injury. A note to all you other writers out there: If you want to keep writing, you have to care for your back. Exercise might be a pain, but it is also essential to your health. Don’t neglect it, until you wish you hadn’t. Live longer, and write longer. Progress: March 2018 New words produced: 37,384 Outlines and Notes: 21,758 Words compiled: 22,393 Works completed: 3 ( Dear Tiger: Let’s Go A-Hunting; Dear Tiger: Help me Find my Sisters; 1 x FF) Works edited: 3 ( Dear Tiger: I Like Your Lab ; Dear Tiger Omnibus; Mack ‘n’ Me: Origins ) Covers created: 4 ( Mack ‘n’ Me: Blaedergil's Host; Dear Tiger: I Like Your Lab; Dear Tiger: Help Me Find My Sisters; The Dear Tiger Omnibus ) Works published:   3 ( Dear Tiger: Don’t Look Back; Dear Tiger: I Like Your Lab; Dreams of the Serpent ) Works released: 3 ( Memory’s Vampire; Dear Tiger: Don’t Look Back; Dear Tiger: I Like Your Lab ) Wo...

Progress was slow last week, due to ongoing issues with my back. Desk time was minimal, and I increased my walking to counteract the back issues (as you can see from the PokemonGo reports). I am sitting and writing this in one of my first pain-free moments for over a fortnight, and will have to adjust my writing schedule to incorporate more standing activity, if I want to be able to continue to write for extended periods of time. This week will be a madhouse as I build a little extra into each day’s schedule so that I can begin the slow process of catching up. Also, it’s April – and there are several projects on the go, in addition to the usual half dozen. Progress: March 25-31, 2018 New words produced: 7,615 Outlines and Notes: 2,249 Words compiled: 0 Works completed: 1 ( Dear Tiger: Help Me Find My Sisters ) Works edited: 0 Covers created: 2 ( Dear Tiger: Help Me Find My Sisters , The Dear Tiger Omnibus ) Works published: 0 Works released: 3 ( Memory’s Vam...